


Just Like Old Times

by AlexaNDYE



Series: Pepperony Endgame [2]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, Pepper's first time flying, Pepper's first time with the suit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-08 19:28:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18629785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexaNDYE/pseuds/AlexaNDYE
Summary: Caution: Avengers Endgame Spoilers!Tony gives Pepper a suit of armor, and also gives her, her first flight lesson.





	Just Like Old Times

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you everyone for all the wonderful comments and words of encouragement. I'm here to ease all the pain with some fluffy Pepperony.
> 
> I'm going to try to keep all of these fics within that 5 year time period that wasn't given to us.
> 
> This one is set a month or two from the first fic of the series.

Tony handed Pepper a blue glowing Arc Reactor that had purple and silver accents. She raised an eyebrow at it and then at him. He nudged her with it, and she took it with a look of uncertainty.

 

“What am I supposed to do with this?” she asked.

 

“Wear it,” Tony replied simply.

 

“Uhm…” she bit the inside of her cheek. “As much as I’d like a suit, I really don’t think—”

 

“It’s for emergencies,” he interjected. “You know, for ‘just in case’ type of situations.”

 

She gave him a puzzled look. “Just in case?”

 

“Yeah, you know, if I’m not around and something happens to you or Morgan.”

 

She frowned at his words. “You mean when you’re out grabbing donuts, right?” She knew what he was trying to say, but she didn’t want him to mean it. While Tony flirted with the notion that he wouldn’t be around all the time, alive or dead, Pepper hated it. She didn’t want to think of a world or a time where her husband wasn’t there with her, but the more he talked about it, the more she had to realize that, sooner or later, his time as Iron Man would come to an end. And Tony Stark was Iron Man as much as Iron Man was Tony Stark.

 

“If this means you’re going to die, then I don’t want it,” she said as she tossed the Arc Reactor to him.

 

He caught it and fumbled with it, because he didn’t expect her to toss it back. She was already angrily walking away when he finally looked up.

 

“Pepper…” he grounded out worriedly, and then he went after her. He jogged slowly until he finally caught up with her, and then stepped in front of her. He sighed. “Pepper, please—”

 

“Don’t ‘Pepper’ me, Tony,” she angrily grounded out. “You’re asking me to take something in case you die, which you act like you know you will.” He pressed his lips together; he looked apologetic, but also understanding. He knew asking Pepper wouldn’t be easy.

 

“I’m not asking you to accept my death,” he replied softly. He placed his hands on her shoulders and softly squeezed the area. “I’m asking you to help me protect our family.”

 

Pepper couldn’t look at him while tears began to form at the corner of her eyes.

 

“Pepper…” he murmured softly. “…I know you don’t want to hear it—”

 

“I don’t.”

 

“—But I have to think about our future.”

 

“A future without you,” she replied angrily.

 

“ _Our_ future,” he said sturdily. “The future _us’es_.”

 

She heard him say that before, but it didn’t make it easier on her. He brought his hands up to caress her cheeks, and she fought back the tears as she brought her hands up to cover his. Her fingers curled around his palm, and she felt his forehead press against hers.

 

“I love you,” he murmured. “I wouldn’t leave you or Morgan without fighting with every inch of my life. You know that, right?”

 

She leaned into his hands, saddened and fighting off the pang in her chest; she nodded. “I know.” She smiled as a tear ran down her cheek before stopping at his palm. “I know.”

 

He kissed her forehead and then wrapped his arms around her and held her, holding her and hoping she wouldn’t have to use the Arc Reactor.

 

They were standing in front of a beautiful, quaint lake in front of their porch. The air was still, yet cold, and there were one or two birds chirping. It was quiet and relaxing. It was the life Tony had dreamed of with her. Nearly two years ago, they were standing in the same spot and reciting their vows, and he promised that he’d protect their family, no matter what the cost.

 

\---

 

“So, what, I just tap it?”

 

“Yeah,” Tony nodded. He tapped his Arc Reactor that was suctioned onto his chest and out flowed the nanites that eventually formed his Mark 51. The nanites stopped at his neck. “See?”

 

Pepper looked down at the purple and silver accented Arc Reactor in her hand and held it against her chest. She pressed on it lightly and felt it latch onto her black cotton t-shirt. She tapped it, but it didn’t do anything. She tapped it again and again until Tony held her hand with a light chuckle.

 

“Friday, did you set the correct permissions for this thing?” he asked.

 

“Checking,” Friday said through his suit. “Permissions set.”

 

“Okay, try again,” Tony said as he released Pepper’s hand.

 

Pepper held her breath as she lightly pressed her finger against the cool metallic glow. She shrieked as the nanites pooled out of its housing and wrapped around every curve of her body. She closed her eyes shut, thinking it was going to wrap around her head, but it stopped.

 

“Friday, calibrate, please.” He grabbed Pepper’s now nanite covered hand. “It’s okay, Honey. You can breathe.”

 

Pepper opened her eyes and let out a few shaky breaths. “I don’t like it.”

 

He chuckled. “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

 

She individually moved her digits to test how versatile and flexible the suit was. It didn’t feel like she was even wearing the suit. It felt hallow and lightweight, almost as if she were wearing a soft purple and silver latex suit. “How do I control this thing?”

 

“For this next part, you’ll have to flex your brain a bit,” Tony explained. “Think and it’ll follow your lead.”

 

She raised an eyebrow at him. “Really?”

 

He nodded. “As you start using it, it’ll calibrate even further and almost know what you’re thinking a second ahead. It’s defense and offensive systems have advance intelligence, so if you’re in danger, the suit will know before you and, nanites will swarm to the hottest spot and protect you as much as possible. The nanites aren’t infinite though, so you’ll need to be careful and dodge as much as you can to maintain the amount of nanites.”

 

Pepper nodded. “So, if I want to put the helmet on, I just—” As if on cue, nanites swarmed around her head, and her HUD appeared before her. She let out a small yelp. Tony thought it was cute and smiled warmly at her.

 

“See? You’re a natural.”

 

Pepper blinked as the lights in front of her pulsed white that slowly transitioned to blue. Tony’s faceplate slipped on too. He held his arms out and took Pepper’s hands.

 

“Okay, now for the flying—”

 

“—flying!?” she exclaimed. “Tony, I _just_ got this thing on.”

 

“Don’t worry. Flying will be easy-peasy.”

 

Pepper sounded worried, “I don’t know about that…”

 

“Hey, I’m here to catch you if you fall, okay?” He tried to reassure her, and at first, she was skeptical.

 

“…Okay…”

 

He beamed at her. “Great! Now, I want you to think about flying on a plane. Think about a plane speeding down the runway, about to take off, and—”

 

Right before he could finish, boosters formed at Pepper’s feet. Her suit thrusted her into the air, and Tony watched as she flailed and pointed her hands out, activating the thrusters on her palms. She shrieked as her body was thrown several hundred feet in the air, and then she desperately thought about everything but flight. In a split second, her nanite suit reacted, and killed all thrusters. Her body stopped in midair and fell straight down, on top of the garage.

 

Tony’s mouth was hung open as he watched the entire scene unfold in front of him. A heartbeat later and he cursed under his breath, “Shit, I was supposed to catch her.”

 

He flew over to the garage and found her suit underneath a pile of wood, some tools, and a few moving boxes. DUM-E’s crane-like arm poked out from behind her. He whirred a few times, and Tony pointed at him.

 

“Hey, I think I did better than that.”

 

Pepper groaned and kicked off a chunk of wood that had fallen near her foot.

 

“Honey, you okay?” he asked as he began to clear some of the rubble away with his thrusters.

 

DUM-E whirred once more and began to spray some foam from his fire extinguisher onto Pepper’s fallen form.

 

Pepper groaned in response, and swatted haphazardly at the large red canister.

 

\---

 

“I think you did pretty good,” Tony said as he handed her a fresh icepack that had been sitting in the freezer.

 

Pepper angrily grabbed it and glared at him. She pressed it against her shoulder and sighed in content. She leaned forward and hunched over the dining room table, squinting painfully at the pressure that fell on top of her bruised shoulder. It was a small bruise, but a bruise nonetheless.

 

“What happened to catching me?” she grounded out angrily.

 

Tony tried to suppress his laughter. “I’m sorry,” he said with a grin. “I didn’t think it would fire off that fast. I’ll have Friday lower the sensitivity on it and—”

 

“I’m not wearing it again.”

 

He flashed a small frown. “No one gets it on their first try, Babe.”

 

“Rhodey did.”

 

“That’s because he’s military, and he’s flown a jet before,” he said, trying to reassure her. “Look, just give it some time. You’ll catch on sooner or later.” He came up behind her and kissed the top of her head. She swatted at him and responded with an unamused grunt. He flashed her an apologetic smile and kissed her cheek. “I love you,” he cooed.

 

“Whatever.”

 

\---

 

“Didn’t go so well?” Happy asked as Morgan briefly hugged Tony’s legs and then ran past him to greet Pepper.

 

Tony crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “How can you tell?”

 

“Well, for one, when I drove up to the house, I noticed the garage wasn’t exactly in the best condition, and two, Pepper looks like she’s about to maul you and hide the body,” Happy replied with a small smirk.

 

Tony narrowed his eyes at him. “Seen that look before?”

 

“Only when she’s angry at _you_.”

 

“Of course.”

 

“Mommy!” Morgan greeted her cheerfully. She frowned at the ice pack and asked, “What happened?”

 

“Your Dad wasn’t being nice,” Pepper said with a small sigh.

 

“How come?”

 

“He was supposed to help Mommy with something, and he didn’t keep his promise.”

 

Morgan looked over at Tony, and asked in the most innocent and hurtful tone, “Daddy, how come you’re not being nice to Mommy?”

 

“Hey!” Tony exclaimed as he walked towards the living room. “Don’t turn our daughter against me.”

 

Happy’s smile widened as he watched Tony and Pepper bicker like an old marry couple. “Just like old times,” he said to himself as he closed the front door behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! :)


End file.
